Israel ranks 8th as per the latest World Happiness Report while Finland retains the top position for the tenth year in a row. Other Nordic nations, including Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, also feature in the top 10. Costa Rica is a notable entrant at 4th place. The Latin american country was ranked 23rd in 2023.
India, at the same time, ranks 116th in the report, behind war-hit countries like Israel Iran (97th). The annual report, published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, brings out rankings based on a three-year average of people’s self-assessed life evaluations, where respondents rate their lives on a scale from 0 to 10.
The overall happiness score is derived from six key indicators: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and perceptions of corruption.
Israel stands out at 8th position with an average life evaluation score of 7.187, while Iran’s score is 5.151. The average life expectancy in Iran is 64 years, compared to 70.8 years in Israel. In India, the average life expectancy stands at 58.2 years. India ranks 61st on the freedom parameter and 64th in perceptions of corruption.
Interestingly, Pakistan ranks 104th with an average life evaluation score of 4.868. Among other Indian neighbours, Bangladesh ranks 127th, Afghanistan 147th, while Sri Lanka and Nepal are placed at 99th and 134th, respectively.
India’s average life evaluation score stands at 4.536. The country performs poorly on several parameters — inequality is high at 92, social support ranks 123rd, and GDP per capita stands at 89th. On the positive side, India fares relatively better in freedom (61st) and perceptions of corruption (64th).
Israel, meanwhile, records a life expectancy of 70.8 years and ranks 95th on freedom, alongside its strong overall life evaluation score.
Social media’s negative impact on youth
One of the key highlights of the report was its observation on how heavy use of social media is contributing towards decline in well being of the young people across the globe.
The report highlighted how life evaluations among under 25-year-olds in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have dropped significantly over the past decade, and suggested that long hours spent scrolling through social media is a key factor in that trend, said a PTI report.
The report drew on a wide range of academic research, surveys, and other evidence, and found some positive links between social media use and wellbeing in regions such as the middle east and Africa. However, it also noted that heavy usage is consistently associated with higher levels of depression and stress.
